Casa do Penedo

💡 4 things to know

1. Built from the roof downBoth the official site and Fafe’s tourism office say the house was built in an unusual way, starting with the roof, so that it would fit perfectly into the landscape. The official site, quoted by Notícias ao Minuto, says the four rocks are part of the structure of the house itself. Casa do Penedo (official site) · Visite Fafe (Fafe tourism) · Notícias ao Minuto, 8 Jan 2023 Checked
2. A family holiday home without technologyThe Portugal News reports that the parents of today’s owner, Vítor Rodrigues, began building the house in the spring of 1972 as a holiday home for the family, and that it “was built to have no technology, no television and no phone”. Islands writes that the owner was a textile engineer in Guimarães and that employees of his company built it. The Portugal News, 9 Jan 2022 · Islands, 9 Jun 2025 Reported
3. Fame came with problemsAccording to The Portugal News, the family stopped using the house because of the large flow of visitors, and after vandalism all windows were made bulletproof and the door was reinforced with steel. Postal wrote in December 2024 that it had been closed to the public for many years but could now be visited by appointment. The Portugal News, 9 Jan 2022 · Postal, 10 Dec 2024 Reported
4. Inside a wind farm, on a rally roadFafe’s tourism site says the house stands within a wind farm and that the only access is by the rally track, the Fafe/Lameirinha stage. Wind turbines are visible on the ridge in our 2009 photo. Visite Fafe (Fafe tourism) · Wikimedia Commons, 10 Mar 2009 Checked

📍 Where it is

🗓️ Sightings

1. 197413 Oct

   Inaugurated, official site

2. 200910 Mar

   Photo, Feliciano Guimarães

3. 201124 Apr

   Photo, Pablo García Chao

4. 20229 Jan

   The Portugal News

5. 20238 Jan

   Open for visits, Notícias ao Minuto

6. 202410 Dec

   Visits by appointment, Postal

7. 20259 Jun

   Mini museum, Islands

8. 202622 Oct

   Guided visits offered, official site

Every stamp links to its source. The green stamps are dated pictures of the house: Feliciano Guimarães’ photo with camera date 10 March 2009 (our hero photo) and Pablo García Chao’s photo of 24 April 2011, both on Wikimedia Commons. The amber stamps are records and reports: the inauguration date given by the official site, press stories from 2022 to 2025, and the official site offering guided visits when we checked on 22 October 2026. We found no Google Street View car imagery that shows the house.

📰 On the record

✅ The facts

Name

Casa do Penedo; the name comes from its being built between four very large rocks. Casa do Penedo (official site) Checked

Built

Inaugurated on 13 October 1974. Construction began in 1972, in the spring according to The Portugal News, and took about two years. Casa do Penedo (official site) · Visite Fafe (Fafe tourism) · The Portugal News, 9 Jan 2022 · Islands, 9 Jun 2025 Checked

Builders

Built for the Rodrigues family; The Portugal News says the parents of the current owner, Vítor Rodrigues, built it, while Islands says it was built by employees of the owner’s company, a textile business in Guimarães. The official site names no builder. The Portugal News, 9 Jan 2022 · Islands, 9 Jun 2025 Reported

Structure

A house built between four large rocks that form part of its structure. Casa do Penedo (official site) · Notícias ao Minuto, 8 Jan 2023 It was built starting from the roof. Casa do Penedo (official site) · Visite Fafe (Fafe tourism) Checked

Place

Rua Rally de Portugal 1610, Várzea Cova, 4820-278 Fafe, in the União de Freguesias de Várzea Cova e Moreira do Rei, Fafe, northern Portugal; about 41.48819, -8.06782 (the map pin on Fafe’s tourism page). Visite Fafe (Fafe tourism) · Casa do Penedo (official site) · Google Maps Checked

Setting

Within the wind farm of the Serras de Fafe; the only access is by the Fafe/Lameirinha rally stage. Visite Fafe (Fafe tourism) Checked

Electricity

The Portugal News (2022) says the house is still not connected to mains electricity, and Islands (2025) says it has none; Postal (December 2024) says it had no grid connection “até há pouco tempo” (until recently). We lean towards no mains electricity, as two of the three sources, including the newest, say so. The Portugal News, 9 Jan 2022 · Islands, 9 Jun 2025 · Postal, 10 Dec 2024 Conflicting

Visits

Open to the public by advance booking; the official site offers guided visits and other experiences. Visite Fafe (Fafe tourism) · Casa do Penedo (official site) Checked

Status

Standing and visitable: the official site offered guided visits when we checked on 22 October 2026. The newest dated photo we found is from 24 April 2011. Casa do Penedo (official site) · Islands, 9 Jun 2025 · Wikimedia Commons, 24 Apr 2011 Checked

Our photo

By Feliciano Guimarães, camera date 10 March 2009, published on Flickr as “The Stone House reinvented” and on Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons, 10 Mar 2009 Checked

🔗 Related

• Houses in the Wrong Place (10 Photos): the SAU collection with Casa do Penedo and nine other houses in surprising places

All sources (10)

Official

• Casa do Penedo: official website. Inaugurated 13 October 1974, built starting from the roof, between four large rocks, as a family shelter; União de Freguesias de Várzea Cova e Moreira do Rei, Fafe; guided visits offered (checked 22 October 2026). In Portuguese.
• Visite Fafe: “Casa do Penedo”, Fafe tourism. Address, wind-farm setting, access by the Fafe/Lameirinha rally stage, visits by advance booking; map pin. In Portuguese.

Press

• The Portugal News: “Welcome to the Flintstones house”, by Paula Martins, 9 January 2022. Construction from spring 1972, the Rodrigues family, no mains electricity, bulletproof windows, the flow of visitors.
• Notícias ao Minuto: “A ‘casa mais estranha do mundo’ fica em Fafe e está aberta para visitas”, 8 January 2023. Exists since 1974; the rocks are part of the structure; visits and experiences. In Portuguese.
• Postal: “Fica em Portugal uma das casas mais estranhas do mundo, com forma peculiar e rodeada pela natureza”, by Gonçalo Viegas, 10 December 2024. Closed to the public for many years, now visitable by appointment; electricity. In Portuguese.
• Islands: “One Of The World’s Most Unusual Houses Is A Unique Portugal Attraction Blending Into Incredible Landscapes”, by Maja Proescholdt, 9 June 2025. Built 1972–1974 by employees of a Guimarães textile engineer’s company; mini museum; guided tours only; no electricity.

Photos

• Wikimedia Commons: “Casa da Pedra em Fafe 01”, photo by Feliciano Guimarães, camera date 10 March 2009, CC BY 2.0. Our hero photo.
• Wikimedia Commons: “Parte posterior de la Casa do Penedo”, photo by Pablo García Chao, own work, dated 24 April 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0. The house between its boulders.

Records

• Wikipedia: “Casa do Penedo”. Encyclopedia entry: construction 1972–1974, holiday home, no electricity supply, now a small museum. Used for context only.

Street Art Utopia

• Street Art Utopia: “Houses in the Wrong Place (10 Photos)”, October 2026. The SAU post with this photo.

Artwork File · Last checked 22 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files